No One is Invincible
by Blue Dragon X
Summary: Shadow's friendship turns into a rivalry. A shattered soul is taken from ARK, to Earth, and back to ARK before peace is made between the two.
1. Birth of a Reject, Birth of a Shadow

Birth of a Reject, Birth of a Shadow

**By Blue Dragon**

The room was dripping with tension, not the kind of tension that aggression gives, but the type brought by anticipation.

It was as if the heavens were pouring in their sight, it was as if God himself wanted to see what would happen next. The light from stars beamed in through the completely transparent windows of ARK, eliminating the common darkness that the room had grown accustomed to. Every scientist there was on the edge while watching, yo-yoing, biting their fingernails, and running nervous fingers through their hair.

"Open up the mechanic veil, I want to see it."

"Uh . . . Gerald, sir, we kind of . . . forgot the activation code."

"Give me a break, you assured me you had it memorized! I told you to archive it! Get to work cracking it!"

The room came alive after one of Gerald Robotnik's rare and short rants as they began shuffling through the mountainous pile of records, searching for the activation code.

"Alright, never mind. No more random guessing, coin flipping, and eeny-meeny-miney-moing. I've found the right one." Gerald pointed to his head. "Right here. The password is M-A-R-I-A"

The mechanical veil around the tube opened up suddenly to reveal the organism inside of the support liquid, the tubes just completing their connection.

"What do you think? A very well rounded pet, you barely need to feed him, and he tends to wounds. On top of that, he's practically immortal."

Maria Robotnik looked very closely at the small rusty brown lizard inside the test tube.

"He's a bit odd looking. Are you sure he's all of those things?" She asked very slowly and subtly as if she didn't want to hurt someone's feelings.

Gerald knocked twice on the tube and the lizard's yellow eyes snapped open.

"Well, I do need to test him. What do you suppose I attempt?"

"Is this his only form, a tiny lizard?"

". . . He grows."

"How much?"

"Trust me."

". . .Let him out, then."

The test-tube drained and the dark room lit up to reveal the entire futuristic nature of the laboratory aboard ARK.

The tube opened and immediately the tiny lizard showed how much faster it was than it looked and locked itself onto the top of the dry interior. Maria could have sworn it burst out two inches.

"This is the first leap into the creation of the ultimate life, imagine the progress we can make . . . the steps for mankind . . . yes. This will change everything." Gerald nodded.

"Hello there . . . "the young girl approached it, her blue eyes twinkling in wonder as she reached for the lizard that appeared docile.

_[Hello there . . . LUNCH!]_ the lizard thought as it hissed loudly.

"Ah!" she recoiled in fear at the loud hiss.

"He must be hungry . . . "Gerald was worried already.

_[Brilliant deduction. You're in the league of Einstein himself. Let's give this man a hand. Tell him what he's won, Johnny!]_ The lizard could almost say it, but it only came out as a series of hisses.

Due to the aggressive, sadistic, and sarcastic nature of the prototype of the ultimate life-form, his reputation's status wasn't . . . terribly appreciable.

Gradually, Maria and the reptile later to be known as Biolizard grew further apart. Thus, a reject was born.

::::

The Biolizard grew to be about eight inches tall. The speed of his claws and tail was nothing compared to the refined yet subtle sharpness of his teeth. He specialized in sneaking through the colony and biting the hell out of anything that moved, save Maria. No one was considered a real man or woman until they had teeth-marks from the legendary reptile.

There had been many suggestions to just have him sucked out of the nearest airlock, thrown into the next black hole, or just stuffed him into a cabinet and forgotten, but the top researchers insisted that they continue to research him, regardless of the havoc he liked to wreak simply for kicks.

His attention-hungry attitude often got him into trouble, and sent him around the colony, looking for trouble. Of course, it wasn't very long until he met up with his biggest trouble.

One day, Biolizard was wandering around the extremely futuristic colony into a room that had normally been closed. He made his way down the transparent halls darkened by space. He could practically feel the vacuum pulling on the outside of it, it was as if one was walking in space. The entire complex spanned as if it were a silver labyrinth, and the lights would shut off immediately after hours, giving a scare to the poor sap still in the hallways when the lights went out, trapped as Biolizard's prey. He had only gotten two victims, and his teeth were aching from not biting someone. He heard a commotion and slunk into the room, crossing his arms and looking left and right with his yellow eyes.

"This will be our greatest yet!" One scientist commented.

"Check out how dark he his."

"The Ultimate Lifeform . . . "

"We'll be rich!"

"You've really outdone yourself, Gerald."

"Imagine all the people we can help . . . "

"Anyone seen my sandwich?"

"So this is the archetype . . ."

"We should check his strength."

"Extensive tests will . . . "

They were all talking at once and blocking out any real communication. Gerald, however, just stood there with Maria.

Biolizard spat out a toothpick, he absolutely loved bologna and deer meat sandwiches. The only thing better than that was to make Maria giggle, mostly because he could rarely ever do it. This was partially because she never cared to look, but mostly because he had given up trying, as he could only hiss.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" A scientist asked, looking down menacingly at the reptile.

He responded with a hiss.

_[Watch it, I'm just beggin' for an excuse to bite an ankle in two!]._

Biolizard watched Gerald drain the tube and open it. He noticed the hedgehog that lay inside. It appeared very dark with a newborn type of dark brown eyes, and a lifeless look upon its face. The lifelessness immediately turned into confusion.

"Good morning." The bald man leaned down to its level until his gray moustache leveled off with the creature's eyes, and gave it help standing.

_[I never got this much attention. That 'thing' is getting more looks in a flippin' day than I have all my life]_ He answered his own thought. _[But whose fault is that?]_

"Maria!" Gerald called into the crowd and the young girl managed to make her way through the sea of legs.

"What shall I name him, granddaughter?"

"He's dark . . . and quiet . . . Hmm. How about Shadow?"

_[Sure, give him a kick-ass name while I'm just 'Biolizard', nothing but a scrub. Maybe I'll kill him . . . ? No. No one will like me then, but then again that wouldn't change much. It's settled. At midnight tonight, I'm going to kill his ass.]_

It was the birth of a Shadow.

It was midnight, and the only noticeable difference in the space colony was the loss of lighting. All of the scientists knew better than to hang around the hall after dark.

Biolizard's eyes adjusted to the dark as he crept over to his room, the huge one where Shadow was being kept, foolishly unguarded.

He used the padding on his feet to walk without a sound, smiling to himself about the stealth he had achieved.

He was surprised when he turned the corner to find his target staring right back at him, wide-awake.

Shadow sat atop an average looking bed, tossing his myopic gaze back at the Biolizard, while Biolizard stared right back

_[ . . . I don't really want to kill you, but . . . ]_

Shadow just stared blankly, his eyes seemed to be well on their way to a deep shade of red.

_[Getting something done would be a benefit for me, but maybe your demise will ruin my chances with Maria . . . ]_

"So that's her name?"

_[What!? You can talk? Screw that, you can understand me! Just what are you?]_

"Specimen 19882 of division E2, a branch dedicated to research of genetically engineered life. The name given to me was 'Shadow the Hedgehog', The Ultimate Life-Form"

_[Spot's taken. Hey, you feel like gettin' killed?]_

"No, but I wouldn't mind an entrée of lizard legs."

_[Touché. Are you hungry?]_

"Yes, a bit." Actually, Shadow was very hungry. It wasn't because he needed to eat, but because his body functioned better when he did so.

_[Well, I know where to get some grub, follow me.]_

The new creation hesitated, and then crept out of the room, taking his first steps into the outside world.

_[Good, real good]_ the lizard thought to himself. _[I actually have someone that can understand me, that can understand what it's like, the pressure of being ultimate and all. What can I do BUT feed him, he's earned it.]_

_[There it is, our grub.]_

"Bio, that's a guy." In his mind, Shadow felt reason for the first time. Were they supposed to eat people?

_[ . . . He's quarry for our famished minds. And don't call me Bio, or you're next on the menu]_

"I'm not eating a person."

[Wait, you want to eat? I thought you were hungry for mischief. Hold on]

Shadow inwardly shook his head. _Hungry for mischief, what in the world . . . . ? _Shadow tried in vain to comprehend his new friend's twisted logic.

Biolizard ran down the dark corridor where the scientist was hustling with the clipboard to get to his girlfriend's room. Naturally, the individual didn't get far. Biolizard coiled his legs that had grown out further, jumped high, and sunk his teeth right into his backside, a howl filling the room.

"Damn lizard!" He sat down quickly.

_[Ahh!]_ Biolizard was crushed and ran back after desperate attempts to shoot himself outwards.

"I swear, I'll kill you myself! KILL you!" He shouted after the retreating foe.

_[Yeah, and if you're stupid enough to come back I'll bite ya in the nuts!]_

"Hurry! Run away before it breaks your leg! We don't need anyone suffering like Dudley had to!" A woman's voice rang down the corridor from an unseen location.

_[ . . . Dudley fell off the stairs. You bastards blame everything on me]_

Biolizard turned to look for Shadow, who seemed to have vanished.

_[Hey! Where'd you go!? Hedgehog!]_

He turned again and bumped right into him, after which Shadow held up a box.

_[Damn, you scared the hell out of me.]_

"There're three doughnuts in here, want any?"

_[Yeah, sure! You're catching on, bub.]_

Shadow's mind felt the unfamiliar new urge, the urge at a joke.

"I'm the Ultimate Life-Form . . . the stealer of food . . . the . . . bub with the grub?"

It was an awful one, and it made Biolizard cringe simply listening to the pathetic attempt at laughter.

_[ . . . ]_

". . . Let's get going." For the first time, he felt embarrassment.

The two retraced their steps and went back to their room at the end of the ship, where Shadow set the box on the bed and turned on a lamp, opening the box.

_[Krispy Kreme, hell yeah!]_ Biolizard licked his sharp teeth and grabbed one, gobbling it immediately. Shadow had one of his own, and there was one left.

They both started at each other, and then the doughnut. The two then had their first true conflict.

_[ . . . You can have it, but I get it if I can grab it without brute force]_

"Sounds fair . . . " Shadow took the doughnut into his hand, wondering why his 'rival' hadn't tried anything.

_[Look, it's Matt Damon!]_

"Where!? Where!? Who's Matt Damon?" Shadow felt confusion for the second time.

The reptile tapped the bottom of the hedgehog's hand and the doughnut flew up. Biolizard jumped up, did a twist, and caught his prize in his mouth while suspended in midair.

/

"How'd you do that?"

_[I practice biting people's hands.]_

"Not that, how did you make me look away?"

_[Oh, you're gullible is all. You still have a lot to learn.]_

". . . Can you teach me to be that slick? How to trick people?"

_[Is Amos Famous?]_

"What?"

_[Never mi-nd, I'll do it if you teach me to talk]_

"Eight dollars!"

_[ . . . three dollars?]_

"Forty dollars!"

_[What the hell are you doing?]_

". . . I was trying to haggle."

_[ . . . First of all, you're not paying me anything. Second of all, you're trying to pay a low price, ya yutz ]_

Shadow looked down, and Biolizard looked away.

_[I guess it must be strange having all of this knowledge for the first time in a new world . . . ]_

". . . We can start in the morning, I suppose."

Biolizard was standing on top of the crack above the open doorway so that if he were to drop, he would land right in the middle of where the door usually was.

"Bio, what are you doing?"

_[Glad you're awake]_ he noted as the hedgehog jumped out of his horizontal tube connected and bolted to the wall.

"How did you do it? It's five-thirty in the morning."

[I don't sleep]

". . . "

_[ . . . Just kidding, I just nap in the day so no one thinks I sleep. It makes them fear me more.]_

"Oh. What are you doing up there?"

_[Watch this, it'll be freakin' hilarious.]_

Maria later walked into the room with a smile on her face while staring lovingly at Shadow, after which Biolizard dropped down onto her back.

"Ahhh! Get him off of me! Ahh! Grandpa! Get him off of me!"

"What are you doing, Bio!?"

_[She smells like Shampoo and warm apple pie! I love you Maria!]_ he yelled sarcastically.

"Bio, you're scaring her to death."

Three scientists rushed in and struggled to pull the lizard off of the screaming girl, immediately cornering him. Maria held Shadow closely as she watched her rescuers advance.

"You DO smell like Shampoo and warm apple pie" The hedgehog noticed after a few sniffs in the air.

"You can talk!?" Maria exclaimed towards Shadow.

"Let's kill this menace for good!" one scientist commanded as he shifted his way towards the right.

Suddenly, Biolizard convulsed and shot upwards two feet. The rest of his body slightly increased in size to give proportion to his new height.

"Damn! It grew!"

The lizard, now 2'8" leapt up at a scientist and started dancing on its head.

"Ahh! Get it off!"

Another scientist dove for him, but the lizard jumped off and started doing a Russian dance.

_[I'm invincible! Back to the furnace with ye!]_

"Kill it! Kill it!" the three dove for him, but he pirouetted out of the way, and revealed a set of razor sharp teeth.

"Screw this, I want to live!" The other scientists decided they agreed, and then ran out while Biolizard laughed his ass off.

_[Suckers! Tell your mothers I said hello!]_

". . . Did he just hiss 'suckers'?" Maria asked nervously as she backed towards the door.

Shadow held a thumbs-up sign as Maria walked off with him, but the lizard was still busy cackling and slamming the floor with his tail; he was laughing so hard.

::::::::::::

It had been quite some time since the incident, and Shadow had fully developed. Biolizard hadn't grown any, and it was worrying him. He didn't want to admit it, but Shadow had become intimidating, and in a fight with him, even though they had become close friends, he probably wouldn't stand a chance.

The lizard had long since left his mini-domain in search of where Maria had taken Shadow this time. He saw the two staring out of one of the windows into space, perhaps even Earth below. Their backs were to him, so he decided on a sneak attack. And then, they began talking.

"Maybe I'll just . . . . "He would always talk to himself to improve his speech, but didn't want to let anyone know that he had learned. He had long since decided that knowledge to oneself gave power, and so did the ignorance of another.

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"

". . . "The reptile leaned back on the corner and eavesdropped, trying to take out as many bits of information as he could.

". . . the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science . . . "

He didn't even seem interested in everything that Shadow had to say. At the time, it just occurred to him how obsolete he had become. Everyone really did love Shadow, and he probably couldn't ever match him in power or popularity. And he knew for sure that he couldn't get Maria's affection. He had always been trying to push that fact aside, but when it occurred to him, it really hung heavy on his heart.

"I won't cry . . . never."

" . . . Maybe if I go down there, I will find the answers . . . "He heard another bit of what Shadow was saying.

"Yes, maybe I should go down there, too. I am the prototype, after all, I deserve to see Earth. Maybe I can start anew . . . these guys hate me anyway . . . but Shadow. I think Shadow would deserve to see me one last time"

It takes a special element of the heart to let a friendship withstand the test of time, and in this case, space as well.

:::::::::::

A crowd had gathered where Shadow had retreated to after his conversation.

"What happened?" Everyone ignored him, which was a first. He felt a small tinge of the anger that Biolizard usually had.

"Dudley got hit in the nuts with a bowling ball." Biolizard elaborated, trying to disguise his voice as he wove his way from the crowd.

". . . What was a bowling ball doing in the middle of a space colony? And what is a bowling ball?"

"Never mind that, Shadow. Something's up, and I think we need to watch out."

The two heard voices coming from the room around the corner.

"Are they talking to Gerald?" Shadow asked.

"I hope so. That old fart deserves a good tongue-lashing."

"Shouldn't we check it out?"

"No! If he sees me he'll want to do an experiment."

Shadow was already around the corner, and the reptile felt he had no choice but to follow him.

"Why oh why?" Biolizard muttered to himself.

"I'm not going to ask you again! I want The Ultimate Life-form!"

"May I direct towards an easier objective . . . such as halting the Earth's orbit?!" Gerald yelled back.

"You'll regret this dearly. Your experiments are a menace, a danger to us all!"

The two stood at the open doorway as a general began leaving the room where the flustered scientist had been sitting. He looked down and saw Shadow.

". . . If it isn't the rodent now . . . "He reached down for Shadow, after which he proceeded to casually bite his fingers a quarter of the way off.

"Ahh! You bastard life forms! We'll be back, Robotnik! And we'll make sure you regret refusing to hand him over willingly!"

Shadow scoffed as he spit out the blood.

The military officer grabbed his fingers and squeezed them tightly as blood trickled between his worn hands. He continued on his way and brushed past Biolizard, later stomping down the transparent corridors of the space colony.

"All I wanted to do was to make life easier for humanity . . . why did all of this have to happen? Why is mankind so ungrateful?" The scientist stood up, exhausted, and walked past his crowd of colleagues and the incapacitated Dudley.

"My friends, pack your bags, they may try to evacuate us. If they return, prepare to leave . . . "

"But sir, all of our research—"

"Means nothing, now. They want to shut us down and take our research for themselves. But I don't believe we can let that happen . . . "

::::::::::::::::::::::

Biolizard had led Shadow the limits of the colony, the uninhabited portion with little lighting near the coupling ports. An eerie silence shrouded the place, and not even the light of the stars seemed to be enough to light it up. Adding to the sense of despair was the ominous feeling hanging thick in the air. It was very eerie indeed.

"BL, Why are we here? I've never been this far from my room, this is almost the exit to the colony, and we're right next to the bay of escape pods."

"Oh yeah, about that. After Dudley got hit and didn't get up, I knew we were in for one hell of an unfortunate event, so I'm here, ready to boogey when the storm hits."

"Bio, that's ridiculous. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"I'll bet you a kick in the pants something will."

"You're on!"

There was a distant explosion, and the alarm immediately began to ring.

"Ouch!" Shadow yelled after Biolizard kicked him in the ass so hard he hit the ceiling.

"I told you, you little porcupine!"

"Quit fooling around! We need to find out what's the matter!"

The two leapt through the doors that were beginning to close, and noticed the GUN ships stationed at the dock.

"Get on the wall!" A group of soldiers had scientists pinned down in the distance.

"Where . . . is . . . . Shadow!?" An officer stared angrily at one of the high-ranking colleagues. The scientist attempted to use his white coat as a shield.

"I don't know! And even if I did, you wouldn't be able to catch him! He has hover shoes on!" A scientist yelled back.

"Then what do you call these?" That same general held up a pair of hover shoes.

". . . Look, its Matt Damon!" The researcher made a futile attempt at an escape. The general walked up to the loudmouthed scientist and stripped a half roll of duct tape around his head.

Shadow used this opportunity to leap up from his hiding place and grab the shoes, putting them on in an instant.

"There he is! Kill the lizard!" The soldiers fumbled with their guns.

"I'm not the ultimate life form . . . just a prototype . . . NO! Don't shoot! No—" He flipped to the side and the soldiers hit the glass substitute instead.

"Morons! Nimrods! Idiots!" Biolizard yelled as the vacuum began to pull the remaining oxygen out into space.

"Warning, Depressurizing. Vacuum will begin in thirty seconds."

"Run!" Shadow warned, hovering down the corridor while his friend followed, ducking under the GUN fire.

"Damn GUN and their guns!" The two leapt over a block as clips of ammunition were emptied behind them.

"I say we rebel! Shadow?" The hedgehog was way ahead of him.

"Take this!" Shadow rolled up, and then dashed around the room while sending unfortunate souls into garbage cans and steel walls.

"I'd help you, but I have . . . . arthritis." Biolizard reasoned as the hedgehog spin-dashed and leapt around into as many soldiers as he could, dodging GUN fire.

Shadow continued to body slam, kick, and trip any soldier that dared to join the melee, and jumped back to Biolizard's position.

"What the hell are you doing, help me!"

"I was! I beat a bunch of them up and I was sitting here waiting for you!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and jumped back out, continuing to fight like a maniac.

Biolizard's jaw dropped, he could probably never do any of that, he was once again surpassed. After his grim realization, he muttered angrily to himself, until he sprung up by three feet..

"Yeah! 5'8''!" The newly improved lizard leapt from behind the block and ran towards the melee, testing his new tail.

"Ahhh!" A soldier let out a girly scream as he was smacked by the tail and joined his friends in a dumpster. He peeked out to see the lizard still staring at him, and didn't hesitate to close the lid over himself.

"Let's go, Bio!" The two rushed down the corridor, and that's when the next crisis began. Another soldier spun from behind a corner and began firing automatically. The archetype and the prototype of the ultimate life-form ran faster, and the following events appeared to happen to them in slow motion.

A bullet spun and left smoke in its trail as it shot towards Shadow. He slowly brought up a shoe, calculated trajectory, and with ridiculous speed and accuracy, kicked the bullet back, right into the barrel of the machine gun.

"Damn!" The gun congested and there was a small explosion as it lost function. A small tank trailed behind the fallen soldier, and shot a missile. The dangerous tracker screeched as it sent smoke everywhere like a mechanical demon from hell, and headed towards Biolizard.

With care, he tested his new abilities and back-flipped, landing on the missile hard enough to change its course. Time seemed to speed up again and the projectile smashed into the wall behind.

Even more soldiers rushed from behind the end of the passage, and began to fill up an open room.

"Shadow! You go ahead! I'll hold them off!"

"But—"

"I've become nothing next to you. If anyone can do this, it's you and you only. You are the ultimate life-form, and only you can give the world a chance at happiness. Leave me here! All I can do is support you."

". . . "

"Goodbye, my friend."

The two performed a quick handshake as Shadow nodded, his expression growing morose. He ran down the aisle towards where he could see Maria.

Biolizard walked calmly into the gunfire.

"You want a piece of me? You want the ultimate life-form?" the alarms blared louder than ever.

"Then come and get me."

:::::::::::::

Shadow ran with Maria for a long time down the seemingly endless corridor. The gunfire, the alarms, all of them were becoming a sick lullaby. It was then that Shadow noticed the blood beginning to stain her clothes.

"Maria . . . !"

"Don't worry about me . . . "

There was a single escape pod, and a panel.

"Maria . . . go in. You need to live."

". . . You're the one that needs to make it."

"No! I can get you in there, don't worry about me!" He was more confused than ever. Just what was she trying to do?

"Help me, Shadow, I can't move . . . "She gradually moved towards the panel, luring Shadow closer to the pod, and with as much strength as she could muster, she pushed him in and hit the button to shut the door.

"!?"

"Shadow . . . please. I beg of you."

"Maria!!"

"Please . . . do it for me . . . for all of the people on Earth. Give them a chance . . . to be happy."

Shadow's eyes widened in horror. She couldn't . . . she wouldn't . . . He remained plastered on the translucent door to the pod, hoping it would open.

"Sayonara . . . Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow heard the sound of battle cries and soldiers flying, but still a few managed to approach as Maria hit the button, and his pod flew out of its docking and into the blackness of space. The last Shadow saw was Maria collapsing. Physical and Emotional exhaustion combined into one, and there in his pod, he lapsed into sweet unconsciousness.


	2. God Had a Sense of Humor

God Had a Sense of Humor

**By Blue Dragon**

The escape pod was almost on fire, and because God had a sense of humor, it happened to be spiraling down towards GUN headquarters at thousands of miles per hour. Fortunately, it was built for those speeds, and Shadow was built for just about anything. Unfortunately, however, it was about to hit the water next to one of the main facilities, and when it did, it created quite a wave.

The wave that resulted from Shadow's pod crashing later became known as God's Teardrop among GUN headquarters. The water rose up in a terrifying glory, cascaded into the clear sky from all directions, keeping its serenity and innocence suspended, and then proceeded to crash down all around the island. The beach was even more drenched than it had already been, the side of the facility was crumbled slightly, and the sounds had raised quite a commotion.

The pod later floated up, sending tiny swells of saltwater every which way, and quietly sloshing around the shallow portion of the sea. The door opened up a bit, casting light onto the creature that proved for the first time that he was built for survival; even in unconsciousness.

Shadow stirred, and then awoke, immediately jumping out of the pod, over the water, and onto the rocky shores.

"Wh . . . what? Maria?" The sun was blinding and high in the sky, and it was really starting to burn. His black fur continuously absorbed heat and almost immediately dried him off.

With a flash of grim and sudden realization, everything came back to him. Maria, the GUN soldiers, Biolizard, everything. The emotional trauma was enough to have him back on the ground.

"Noo!! If I ever see them again . . . ! If I ever see GUN . . . "He looked up to witness the huge GUN logo on the side of the building.

"Damn! Someone up there truly hates me!" He started mumbling to himself as he stood up shakily and a bit cramped up, and started creeping around the side of the building, staring down at his shoes.

First, he had to spend most of his energy trying to get away from GUN, and now, here they were again, right in front of him. Were these the fruits of Maria's sacrifice? No matter, he just had to get out of there. But what of Biolizard? Did he make it? He must have, he was the prototype of The Ultimate Life-form.

The knowledge pieced itself together instantly in his mind, he, the archetype, should surely be able to survive.

After a few seconds of muttering about sand in his shoes, he heard the sound of guns cocking and looked up, only to see eight soldiers and a few robots aiming their weapons at him.

"Uh . . . "He groaned and turned to run, where five more soldiers were waiting for him. "For the love of—"

"Get him!" Shadow was much too tired to move, and the pain of what had happened to him all came rushing back, so he just stood there and waited for the new pain to come. And it did, in spades.

"This is for Jacob, you ass!" He felt blows landed on his side and was overwhelmed as the soldiers continued kicking and striking him with the back of their guns.

"Physical pain is the lowest form of all pain . . . Nothing can heal my heart . . . "Was all he muttered.

They continued to unnecessary pounding of him, making sure to hold him down.

" . . . He ain't in any pain, Captain."

"Let's see how you like this!" Another blow was landed to his already numb head, and he saw the world go white as he blacked out.

"Thank you God . . . you've brought me to heaven . . . "Shadow stared at the light, and realized that he couldn't move. Then, his vision cleared and he noticed that he was strapped to a metal table. He heard footsteps, but couldn't place them. He took the moment to look at his surroundings. The room had nothing but a floor, ceiling, walls, and a table; the one he was on.

"Welcome, Shadow." It was the general's voice.

"No. I'm in hell."

"Now that we have you here . . . "An unseen door opened, and the man walked in with a morose look on his face and bandages on his fingers. "Why don't you tell us all you know."

Shadow noticed that the General was holding a chaos emerald.

"What is that pretty stone?" He inquired the military officer.

"Pretty stone? Oh, you mean this chaos energy. This, foolish hedgehog, is the stone embodying the energy that you were created with. And using it, we can . . . . stop. I'll do the questioning. You just be quiet and answer."

". . . ."

"What do you know about 'Chaos Control'?" A few guards marched in soon after he had asked the question.

"Sir, we have sedated Gerald Robotnik, the inquisition will begin shortly."

"Good. Have you figured out the capabilities of Chaos Control?"

"Yes, General. We have determined that when touched, it can be used as a powerful teleportation device and—"

"Yes, yes, but didn't you acquire any records?"

"No sir, they were all hidden."

The general frowned in annoyance.

"Then begin the inquisition!"

"Yes, sir." Two soldiers left through the doorway, and two more remained.

"Let's see if you'll show us what chaos control is!"

"I overheard that it can only be fully harnessed by extreme power or chaos energy . . . " Shadow began.

The general started sneering and pushed the pointed end of the purple chaos emerald into Shadow's stomach, causing him to cough.

"If you think you're going to get out of here telling us just that—"

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow yelled, feeling the power of his first Chaos Control. He imagined where he wanted to go, and then felt the blinding energy flow through him. When he landed, he was on a snowy, frigid mountain top. The air was thin, the sun was blocked, and the winds were chilling. The view was amazing, and the general could barely talk.

"W-what the hell did you . . . "

Shadow the Hedgehog had Chaos Controlled the general to the top of Mt. Everest.

"You bastard hedgehog!"

"You know, no human can survive out here for more than a few minutes without the right equipment. CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow used the move again, this time holding the emerald as he leapt off of the peak, and left the general there.

However, Shadow hadn't completely harnessed the power and ended up Chaos Controlling to a desert. He landed on a cactus and rolled with the emerald through the sands, accidentally activated it, and Chaos Controlled to Hawaii. There, he rolled again, down a few of the rocky slopes, and ended up Chaos Controlling right back to where he had been. The emerald dropped, and the soldiers immediately pinned him back down while throwing a vehement look his way.

"What did you do with him.!?" They asked, pointing guns.

"Ask the hikers on Everest."

"You . . . !"

They tossed their guns and grabbed Shadow by his neck, and slammed him back against the metal bed.

"Bring . . . him . . . back!" They smashed the emerald into his hand and backed away, as Shadow fell down to the ground, muttering to himself.

"What happened to all that I loved . . . ?" He heard Gerald speaking in the next room.

"Somehow . . . we'll repay the humans . . . . those ungrateful fools will feel everything that I have felt . . . yes."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Biolizard huffed. He felt as if he had shrunk. The bodies were cleared, the people were gone, and he was just left there. They didn't even think that he was worth their time, their energy to research, and they just sealed him up there inside. They even had plans to shut down the colony.

"Damn humans . . . and their problems . . . "He dragged himself as well as he could down the nearest corridor, searching every way he could for a place to sleep. If it was deserted, he might as well live in style.

"Wait . . . Shadow! Did he survive?" He ran down the trail that he had seen Shadow and Maria running down, leaving footprints in the poorly maintained ground. Biiolizard noticed that stray guns and helmets were still strewn all over the place as he ran over bundles of empty magazines.

"Where the heck am I . . . ?"

When he turned the corner, the computer systems had become so poor that it appeared as if he was just standing in the middle of space. On the barely visible floor, he noticed a missing escape pod.

"Shadow, maybe he made it out . . . Yes. I know it, I feel it . . . . "He followed a trail of bullet holes along the wall, and noticed the dried stain of blood near it. He then noticed a trail of it leading away to an empty transport area.

"! Maria! No! NOOO!" He started thrashing.

"I don't . . . . humans . . . why . . . NO!" He didn't know how, or why, why did he care about Maria so much when she never even paid any attention to him? She didn't seem to worry about whether or not he lived or died, so why did he care about her?

"Maria . . . Ma . . . humans." He roared angrily and stomped down the hallway on his two clawed feet, making terrifying stomping sounds as he retreated into the still bright outer hallways towards his old room.

"Those God . . . damned . . . it's their problem. Their problems! Thanks to them . . . all of this happened. They don't deserve to exist, to be free, to be alive . . . they took away everything from me . . . and they still just kill each other. For what? I don't even know . . . maybe they deserve to kill each other . . . and just all die. All of them die . . . I'll kill them all!" In sweet irony, Biolizard stumbled upon an open door, in it, a ransacked room that had belonged to a scientist. Popcorn had been spilled, and there was an indention in the wall next to an unmoving bowling ball. A television was still on, and playing a message, the message from Gerald Robotnik.

He listened carefully, and his eyes widened. He noticed writing all over the walls behind the once cheerful scientist, now bitter and sorrowful.

"Intersting . . . Those all look like Gerald's old equations around him . . . I'll bet Maria died on him . . . DAMN! Everything revolves around her now . . . "

He remembered the exact words of Gerald Robotnik, and smiled to himself.

"Yes . . . that's it. Yes! The Space Colony ARK. If I can become one with it . . . I'll send it into Earth, and send all of the bitches on it to hell!" He pointed a clawed finger at the planet below and started laughing wildly.

"Die bitches! You'll all die! I'll show you what pain I've felt when you're hit full force with ARK! Hahahaha . . . "He disappeared into a usually forbidden room, now carelessly left open after being pried to that position by GUN.

"Fools . . . I will use this mechanism to sleep . . . . and grow . . . and the next bitch stupid enough to let this thing open will never know what hit him! It's foolproof! Ha!" He cracked his knuckles and walked into the distance, a bright light overtaking him.

"I can hear it now . . . the world in chaos! The humans can't . . . they WON'T leave this place alone for long. I don't care if I never see Shadow again . . . they'll all die . . .all of them . . .yes!" He ran even deeper into the room, after which he fell into a deep, mad sleep.

[50 Years Later]

Shadow could faintly hear typing in the distance. His capsule opened, and he suddenly felt himself wake up, instinctively jumping up from it. The last he remembered, he had been injected with something . . . how much time had passed? There was no way of knowing, it seemed like just a moment to him. He stood upon his capsule.

"This is strange . . . "He noticed a man resembling Gerald walking towards him, shaped like a bulbous egg, save the skinny legs. He wore well-fitting black pants and a reddish coat with semi-elaborate designs. He wore glasses, and the long rusty-brown moustache contradicted his bald head.

"Sonic!? Are you trying to ruin my plans again?"

"So . . . this is where they left me, hmm? Are you with GUN?"

A look of mock concern and then confusion crossed the man's face. ". . . What? No, I broke into this place. What do you care, hedgehog?"

Shadow laughed maniacally and held up his gloved hand as he stared coldly at the man.

"Well, do you know Gerald Robotnik? You sure do look like him. I wonder if you share his dreams, as well . . . ? Dreams and wishes are a funny thing . . . both are filled with hope, but you have to wake up if you want to make things happen . . . "

". . . . Gerald Robotnik was my grandfather."

"What! Grandfather!? How long ago was it that ARK was attacked?!" Shadow would have normally been panicked, but was now just angry.

"50 years. What do you care? Are you supposed to be the ultimate life-form?"

". . . And I haven't aged a bit . . . hahahaha . . . !" Shadow went back into a wild laugh. "I am . . . Project Shadow . . . The Ultimate Life-form!"

". . . Really?" Saying that the Doctor was interested would be the understatement of the year.

"Prepare to be amazed, Doctor. Power isn't something you're just given. I believe that if you obtain power, you are expected to use it by one person or another! And I won't hesitate to justify that claim, either."

"I'm reporting in here, we have a wild one. We've got the intruder here with him." It was someone reporting in from a radio, he seemed to be marching towards them in a medium-sized Mech.

"Copy that. Eliminate the intruder and secure the wild one." The other side answered.

"Hmm. Observe Ultimate Power!" Shadow had a lot of time to get stronger over fifty years, and he didn't hesitate to show it.

"Hot Shot, engage!" The two footed mech ran towards him over the metallic floor and past the scattered crates.

"Hah! You're no match!" Shadow ducked behind boxes and ran past the gunfire.

"This is Hot Shot, we have the wild one on the run." The mech began to fly and target Shadow with its missiles.

"You're kidding!" The hedgehog leapt up and smashed into the cockpit over and over.

"Hot Shot here, I'm losing power! Request assistance!"

"Copy that, no units available, you will have to continue the fight alone, sorry."

Shadow smiled to himself as the pilot desperately fired another missile towards him, and used the opportunity to leap and carefully deflect the beam with the bottom of his hover-shoes.

"Ahh! I'm hit! Mech is inoperable! Request Emergency Medical Assistance!"

"Here we go!" Shadow nodded and crossed his arms, after which he slid into position a good distance away from the flying sparks. Shadow cracked his neck, and began his walk back towards the egg-shaped man, ignoring the cowering pilot of Hot Shot.

"I will grant you one wish." Shadow nodded towards the man. He trusted him.

"My name is Ivo Robotnik. You may call me Eggman, Robotnik, or simply Doctor."

"Doctor will be fine."

"Hmm . . . " Robotnik stared closely at Shadow; he could safely decide that he felt his skills were impressive.

"Meet me aboard the Space Colony ARK" He told Shadow.

Shadow nodded, and walked off.

"You know where that is?" Robotnik was surprised.

"Of course. It is where I was where I was created, after all."

"How do you plan on getting there?"

"Just trust me, I have a plan for everything." Shadow left through the doorway, and into the corridor where discarded robot shells and destroyed mechs lay in Robotnik's wake.

"The first order of business . . . . steal an emerald." All of the pictures of Maria flooded back to him, and his eyes widened.

"Maria . . . ! I will grant your wish through Ivo . . ." He tried not to collapse as the memories flooded back. ". . . I will make them all pay." A relative of Maria had freed him, once again saving him from GUN. A Robotnik had sealed him up in that escape pod, and now it had freed him from a capsule. A true irony, God really did have a sense of humor.


	3. Fragile Dreams

Fragile Dreams

**By Blue Dragon**

"How convenient." Shadow walked arrogantly down the city streets. It was early morning, and the day's youth was visible on everyone's faces.

"There just happens to be a jewel store nearby . . . perhaps I can get the chaos emerald from there." He had seen discarded newspapers lying around, stating that there was a chaos emerald newly imported into the city.

As he made his way through the early morning traffic, he realized that this had been the first time he could actually enjoy Earth.

"Strange . . . I always assumed that this planet would be far more advanced than ARK . . ."

He continued to take in the new sights, and of course, stare at the sky and sun from Earth for the first time; and appreciating it that is.

"Now that I have found a way to freely exist on Earth, perhaps I can find answers . . . It is only a shame that I will have to go back up to ARK so soon."

"Hey there, Sonic!"

"Look, it's Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Can I have your autograph!?"

"Is that a haircut?"

Shadow couldn't figure out why he was getting so much attention, or why people were calling him by someone else's name, but he made up his mind to ignore them. After a few more shouts, he picked up the pace so he wouldn't attract a crowd.

Once he turned a few corners and followed the advertisements, he walked back onto the sidewalk to the window of a jewel shop.

There were many things on display, and the prices appeared very high. Since Shadow didn't have any money, and wasn't really planning on making any, he decided that his only option would be to steal. The store was a small and compact place, and to any robber, didn't even appear to be a place worth robbing. It was an almost perfect cube, lined to the brim with jewels of medium value. It occurred to Shadow that he couldn't see the emerald he was after, but he assumed it was because they weren't displaying it for safety purposes.

"Perfect . . . " Just as he was about to go in, another realization hit him.

"What am I doing? Why would there be a chaos emerald in an ordinary jewel shop? The museum is where I should be headed!"

Ironically, Shadow had passed the museum four times trying to get to the jewel shop, and he could vaguely remember it half a mile back.

"Hmm . . . . I really don't feel like walking . . . . "He cracked both of his knuckles, crouched down, and spun immediately into a ball.

After kicking up a few chunks of the asphalt, he motored off in a precise path, blowing off people's hats as he zoomed by, and flattening the tires of any taxis he rolled too close to.

"It's been a while since I've been for a . . . . spin." It was an awful pun, but he was getting better and laughed in spite of himself.

When he finally halted his rolling, he flew forward from the momentum, leapt over a few cars, and landed on the sidewalk in front of a wide set of stairs.

The stairs and the museum matched in color, and for reasons unknown to Shadow, there didn't appear to be many people milling about.

"How prestigious . . . "They spanned up for a while, and stopped high in front of the white building that looked freshly painted. Five gigantic columns lined themselves an equal distance apart, and made it seem even more of a royal building. The sun was too high in the sky to add anything special to the seemingly perfect portrayal of a prestigious building, but it was at just the height that announced its presence to the world and awarded it with its gleam at the same time.

"I suppose they didn't expect the chaos emerald to be in a building any less gaudy." Shadow thought aloud. As he stared upwards, he noticed that people were beginning to give him looks, so he decided to pick up the pace and start his climb.

::::::::::::::

Knuckles stood adamant a few feet in front of the precious Master Emerald. The wind blew his red locks over his eyes, but he didn't mind, seeing as he was trying to sharpen his other senses. What few took into account was that when Knuckles wasn't out beating the snot out of anything that looked even relatively prone to be the least bit evil, he'd be guarding the Master Emerald.

What few remembered was that he rarely ever left it. And at this time, he stood in front of it atop Angel Island, bored out of his mind. The sand and trees, cloudless sky, and quiet environment had become all too familiar to the guardian, and he couldn't get real training for his ears if it stayed that quiet.

He sighed deeply, again considering why he had chosen this path, and then remembered that he didn't have that much of a say in it to begin with.

From about three hundred feet away, he heard approaching footsteps. One of his eyebrows raised slightly, and he sniffed around in that direction.

"I'm getting rusty . . . I should have heard her miles away. Let's see . . . . female . . . five foot two . . . . green eyes . . . . how the . . . ?"

He could sense the girl approaching quickly.

"Damn it!" Knuckles jumped over the gigantic stone and stood facing the figure in front of it.

After about a minute, she was only a few feet away, and earning suspicious looks from Knuckles.

"What the hell do you want?"

She appeared about thirteen, maybe fourteen years old, and pretty hyper at that. Her bright eyes darted every which way, and she continuously circled the emerald.

"Hey, Knux!"

"How the hell did you get here? This island is in the middle of the ocean . . . forget that, how did you get through forest?"

First off, Knuckles had been particularly bored that day because Rouge had yet to make her weekly attempt to steal his emerald. Not only did the lack of a good fight make him feel rusty, but it also made him angry. Secondly, Knuckles had learned over the years that the defenses of even _getting_ to the Master Emerald should have been more than enough to repel most intruders. So why and how did such a young girl manage to get through?

"What's that?" She asked. She was pointing at the Master Emerald.

"Just back away from that." The echidna warned, following her around the stone.

"Can I touch it?"

"No. And answer my question."

"I love your games!"

"Will you get out of here!? I want to be prepared when a REAL threat arrives!"

She started touching the Master Emerald, and Knuckles went berserk.

"GET OFF OF THAT!" He grabbed her by the back of the shirt and glided away, towards the edge of the alter. He then dropped her from about six feet up, where she mysteriously landed on her feet and ran back to where he stood.

"What's that thingy on your chest?" She was referring to the crest on his chest, the emblem of the guardian of the Master Emerald.

"Please leave a message after the tone."

"Why're you so protective of that jewel?"

"Do you have an off button? Go annoy someone else, will ya?"

She sighed a semi-frustrated sigh and stepped a bit closer to the wary red echidna, who only took a half-defensive stance.

"I'll be back!" She yelled, leaping off of the steps and running off as hyper as ever.

"Not if I can help it . . . "Knuckles dialed a quick number on his phone and then stored it again, taking out his sunglasses and placing them in front of his eyes. Where he actually kept these things on hand at all times was a mystery.

Knuckles began humming "The Entertainer" while he tapped his foot, waiting for the confirmation.

Later, sirens were heard and the sound of screeching tires filled the air, followed by reports of a few firearms, and finally the sound of pursuing vehicles.

"Another fan girl bites the dust." Knuckles laughed.

Biolizard walked down and open passageway. It didn't seem to end, all that he could see was a light at the end of it.

"Oh, come on. There has to be some end to this . . . "He began running, but the light remained.

_You'll have to run faster than that, if you want to get to the light . . . _

"Who the hell . . . ?" The voice echoing in the reptile's head sounded familiar, but he couldn't seem to place it.

_If you don't run faster, you'll never get there._

"I'll show you fast . . . "The lizard picked up the pace and started motoring his legs faster, running forwards. He then noticed that the passageway was becoming darker and narrower.

"Give me a break, you're giving me the creeps!"

In the distance, he saw the light get brighter, and then a face appeared.

"Maria!?"

It was Maria, and she stood there, waiting for him. Her hands were stretched out towards him, and she had an enticing smile, something that she didn't usually get when he was around.

"I'm coming! Just give me some time!" He ran faster than ever, and he actually began to get tired. The passageway seemed to be two lanes, which was something he didn't notice before.

"What's going on here? Maria!" She just stood there at the end of the passageway and held out her hand.

_I guess I'll just have to step in._

"Who are you!?"

Shadow appeared out of nowhere, and landed on the lane to the left of Biolizard.

"Hello, Bio. I suppose it's my turn to give it a shot."

"Shadow!? How did you get here?"

Suddenly, the lane that Biolizard was on started moving like a conveyer belt, except against him.

"Hey!"

"I'm the only one that can get to Maria. I'm the stronger of us, anyway". Shadow spoke to the reptile as his lane accelerated forwards towards the smiling Maria.

"No! I was here first! I've been trying all this time and you just . . . just . . . NO!"

Shadow somehow approached the light that Biolizard couldn't seem to get any closer to and leapt into her arms, after which the two disappeared as they laughed together.

"N-not again! No!" Biolizard's legs gave out and the belt sped up, and accelerated him away until the light disappeared.

"Maria . . . "He uttered a few more last words as his world became nothing but darkness, destruction, and pain.

Shadow jumped up the last of the stairs, and stared forward at the doorway ahead of him. Guarding each side were two FBI agents. They were dressed stereotypically in their black and white uniforms, staring straight ahead with their sunglasses in perfect positions, and earpieces connected.

"Sorry, Sonic, you're just going to have to wait until we've finished security procedures. Until then, no one can see the chaos—"the agent didn't have to finish, as Shadow delivered a kick to his solar plexus that knocked him out cold.

The other soldier panicked and began to back away while fiddling with his earpiece.

"This is Agent Jamison, I need—"Shadow took care of the other agent before he could finish his transmission.

"What's going on, respond!" an unseen commander asked on the other side of the communications. Shadow delivered a punch that broke the doors down, and alarms blared. Down a series of lasers and guard robots, at the very end of the hall, he saw his prize. It was one of the coveted chaos emeralds, this one green.

"Hah! It's time to test some of my true power once more!" Time seemed to slow down for Shadow as he leapt forward and into action. He ran as fast as he could, and jumped over two shots from a couple of the mechs.

These robots appeared differently designed, particularly for guarding. Again, they fired at Shadow, who simply rolled between them. Before they had a chance to turn around, he sped in between them again, and doubled back with his body elongated. He twisted in air, spinning with wild acrobatics, and slashed himself across the two mechs. Illuminating his victory was a series of explosions.

After putting them out of commission with one of his midair spinning attacks, Shadow continued. He spun under a few lasers, and continued forward. An extra group of lasers continued to file vertically and horizontally against the open hallway, but it was only a matter of skill, a height of reflexes, and a bit of luck.

Shadow lacked the latter, but he had enough of the other attributes to get him through and around the nearest corner.

A missile flew towards him, and this one he simply leapt over before using the second one to leap off of.

This flight caused him to land on three more robots, which ended up firing upon a couple of extra cannons.

The lasers somehow targeted Shadow at his high speeds, and began repositioning themselves so that they would surely alert every machine to his exact location every second, but Shadow took care of this with a few targeted midair strikes using his fully-grown spikes.

In a final act, Shadow began spinning, and zoomed around the room at the speed of sound. The high crack of a sonic boom later waved out and began crumbling pillars with the help of Shadow's rushing, and the room was in chaos.

When he was finished, the police were just arriving, and helicopters were approaching overhead. A broadcast news report rang out on one of the barely working televisions that lay sideways amidst the rubble.

". . . And Sonic the Hedgehog is reported to be the one behind this devastation . . . "

"Hmm. Why don't I let them give me chase for a while before using Chaos Control?" Shadow purposely thought aloud, he wanted to use his voice as much as possible. He grabbed his prize and ran with it. He ducked through the fallen rocks and leapt twice over horizontal pillars before gliding off with his hover-shoes, using them as veritable skates. As he headed for the nearest street westbound, he immediately ran into a police block off.

Two police cars were parked across the street, four police men behind each.

"Freeze, Sonic!"

Shadow shrugged, and took the opportunity to give himself an advantage.

"That is right, I am 'Sonic'. Come and get me!" With that, he spun into a ball and zoomed under a few cars, the gunfire far too slow to catch him.

"If I can evade fifty caliber GUN modulated laser fire, then I can surely dodge a few forty-fives!" Shadow laughed as the cop cars eagerly began to pursue him, and he disappeared over a hill.

:::::::::::::

This time, Knuckles managed to hear someone approaching from a mile away, on a bike. It was yet another non-echidna.

He let out a frustrated sigh as he put on his sunglasses.

"At least my day isn't as boring as usual . . . Let's see. Brown-haired kid, male . . . thirteen point five years old. Riding a ten speed bicycle . . . . " He sniffed the air again. "Huffy. I hate Huffy."

After three minutes, the bicycle stopped in front of the alter, and brown-haired boy ran up the steps. He seemed to be continuously announcing his presence with the loud footsteps he produced.

"Let me guess, you want to take a picture with the Emerald?" Knuckles asked, standing adamant.

"So that's what that is? I thought you just did whatever you felt like in your spare time!"

"You don't seem to understand. I have to guard the Master Emerald during my entire spare time, and take it with me when I'm out fighting by either mobilization, or replacement with a temporary generator. A lot of my life revolves around keeping this thing safe."

"Say what?" The boy didn't seem to be listening as he stared at the emerald. "This green rock is pretty, can I have this?"

"Sure! I was waiting to just give it away! I mean, it was so heavy and a hassle to watch, and I've been thinking of going into real estate, anyway. The colors were getting too bright and I was bored out of my mind. Angel Island will just fall to the ground if it doesn't have it, or energy resembling it keeping it floating anyway! I guess I wouldn't mind, so sure, just take it."

"Really?"

"Hell no! Now leave before I get you out of here myself."

". . . "Sneakily, he made an attempt to sneak around to the other side of the emerald, and when he thought he was clever, began to lift it up. Of course, he wasn't that tough, so he could do no such thing. He stopped trying, expecting to see the open space in front of him when he turned around, but instead met a rather angry Knuckles who was cracking his . . . . well, his knuckles. The last thing the hapless kid saw before unconsciousness was the afterimage of the spiked talons flying into his face.

Sonic the hedgehog whistled to himself as he walked down his favorite street, but in the opposite direction of where he usually went.

Chinese men in front of a restaurant had been repeatedly bugging him to buy things, and since he loathed that particular restaurant, it wasn't an option for him. However, those particular salesmen had been persistent and he found himself walking in the opposite direction to avoid them. But there was another reason, as well.

Amy had been watching him walk that particular route. It was kind of funny, because Sonic had always noticed her, but she didn't think he did, and Sonic knew that. So, judging by her predictable habits, Sonic went down that normal route fifteen minutes earlier. After all, after observance for two days Amy always made her move.

She had become particularly annoying that week, but that isn't to say that Sonic had been very fair to her.

In the distance, the hedgehog heard police sirens and the faint familiar sound of military tanks.

"Whoa! Some action! Now this is what I came for!" He noticed that there weren't as many people on the streets as usual, but shrugged it off.

"Oh yeah!" He exercised no moderation in speeding down the street and tearing up the pavement with his shoes, turning perfect corners into what appeared to be a melee. He could have sworn that he caught something black moving quickly out of the corner of his eye, but dismissed it. When he stopped, he found himself being slowly surrounded by police in the middle of the street.

"Hey there, need help . . . ?" He asked.

"That's him! Get him!" A tank fired at him from the pointed turret and Sonic laughed as he dodged to the side.

"What kind of game is this, is that all ya got?" He asked, cackling at the tank commanders.

Another shot was fired, and then gunshots. Sonic shook his head as he ran past them all, and started cackling at the flustered officers again. Pavement was boiled, cracked, and boiled again. It didn't fail to show it, either, as huge chunks of the street were opened up in areas that Sonic had dodged.

"Maybe you need to go back to training school! You pansies couldn't hit the broad side of a barnyard with a tennis racket! Your mothers wear combat boots! No one loves you! Why don't you go eat some doughnuts!? You—" The blue hedgehog was cut off abruptly as a tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his backside, and he fell to the ground snoring loudly.

"That'll teach you to steal chaos emeralds." An officer nodded in satisfaction. "Get this fool out of here, he makes me sick."

With that, Sonic was tied up and thrown into the back of a cargo jet, that later took off and began to fly him to a maximum level security prison at a five hundred thousand yen bail. It wouldn't complete its flight, however, and the following events would shock the world.

::::::::::::::

"Lieutenant?" The underling's voice echoed around the entire complex. The room they were in was a small one, and a very efficient one. Computers and equipment lined the wall, surveillance screens filled the ceiling, and a chorus of beeps and drilling sounds almost drowned out any other.

"What is it? What have you noticed?" The GUN Lieutenant wiped a blond strand of hair away from his face, and stared at the private through his dark eyes. They were the kind of eyes that warned people that he wasn't what he seemed, that he could spring up in a second. Of course, for this high ranking and young officer, such insubordination was never a worry.

"The subject 'Shadow' has been released. It also appears that the subject 'Biolizard' is growing at an alarming rate. Furthermore, the two of them appear to have neural stimulations in the back of their brain giving way to possible . . . . "

"What . . . ?" The Lieutenant's brow furrowed as he leaned forward in his rolling chair, he back to the sprawling complex.

"It almost seems as if they're rivals . . . but only one wants to do the fighting. I didn't think those two had any kind of relationship."

"Interesting indeed . . . . Ha. From what I gather, things might get interesting. The normal police are capturing the wrong villain, and all the while a small group of people that aren't even human are the ones putting them in danger. Have you heard from Ivo?"

"No, sir, he hasn't given us any contacts since he broke into the base. Are you sure—" The private stopped short and decided he didn't want to anger the lieutenant.

"Keep them guessing." The lieutenant stood up. "And make sure that Shadow is dealt with."


	4. Becoming Invincible

Becoming Invincible

**By Blue Dragon**

Biolizard groggily paced around the exterior of the room he had sealed himself up inside. He noticed that he hadn't been experiencing much growth for fifty years, but also noticed that it was not only rapidly accelerating, but bringing new power with it. He had also noted that the life support system at the top of the room was beginning to work automatically. It seemed to be meant for something big, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet.

After he yawned once, the reptile made his way out of the room and up the walls that he had learned to walk on.

"Strange . . . " Unusable oil from the engines of the space colony were being dumped, and running through the place like a ghastly stream.

"If I continue to grow at this rate . . . I'll be invincible. And then I'll show Shadow. Yes . . . "

He ignored the consciousness in his head telling him that Shadow was his friend.

"If Shadow was my friend . . . how come he didn't put in a good word for me to Maria? If Shadow was my friend . . . then . . . no. I shouldn't be picky. Shadow was my only friend."

Biolizard landed in front of a terminal atop a cliff of mechanics, where he noticed one of the many scattered computers rested.

"This place is way too open . . . the security functions are all wrong. All vector calculations are off by fifty-two degrees on each plane except 'z' . . . this all needs to be reprogrammed and secured." With that said, he began rapidly typing on the keyboard to lock up and secure ARK, but unbeknownst to him, there were others in the ship for the first time in a long time.

:::::::

Sonic awoke, his ears immediately popping from the pressure. His back was sore from lying on the steel for so long, it appeared he was in a small cargo bay.

". . . What the!? I'm out of here! No way I'm going to be pent up like this!"

He climbed over a few crates and knocked aside some spare bars, staring forwards to the cockpit. It appeared that someone was communicating with an unknown receiver.

"Hey, get back down there!" Sonic didn't notice the GUN guard.

". . . How about YOU go down?" Sonic leapt up and roundhouse kicked the guard in the neck, sending him back to his original position.

"What the . . . base, the hedgehog is overtaking the craft and—"Sonic delivered a similar fate to the pilot, and broke the speakers.

"I'm outta here!" He peered around into the darkness and burst through the door, realizing too late that he was at a high elevation.

"Woops . . "Using his quick reflexes, he grabbed the wing and broke off a board-like piece.

"Talk about a low-budged flight. I like running better, anyway. See ya!" He yelled as he locked in his shoes. "Wouldn't wanna be ya, and don't forget to write! Heh . . . "

He began spiraling down at the dizzying heights towards the city below, already beginning to notice the police patrolling the streets. A lone communication reached the ground, and the lights began flashing.

"You'll need a little more than that to take down Sonic . . . "With a quick 360 and a focus on decent, he focused again adamantly as the ground rushed up to meet him.

:::::::::

Knuckles tossed a grape into his mouth and chewed slowly, taking a long look at the clear, but ominous, sky, and then back at Rouge.

"Now why are you bugging me again?"

Rouge the bat took another cautious step towards the Master Emerald, sure she was being clever.

"Don't bother trying to fight me off, it's MY Emerald now." She smiled an arrogant smile and slashed the air with her wings twice.

Knuckles finished the last grape and turned towards her.

"For the last time, it's MY Emerald. And the day you steal it will be the end of my kind, and since that's not happening, you need not worry about trying to get it. Ever again."

Rouge took another subtle step and was sure she was ready to make her final move. "It sure will look nice in my display cabinet."

Knuckles rolled his eyes, and closed them in concentration, before snapping them open again. "The Master Emerald contains the power to neutralize all of the chaos emeralds, and that makes it VERY powerful. What the—"

"The two of you don't have to worry about who gets it; it's mine to keep! Just try and stop me!" Eggman, who had stealthily come down from above, was already using one of his many machines to take off with the Master Emerald. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Master Emerald, correct?"

"Dr. Eggman--!" Knuckles declared, as if to let the heavens know.

"So that's Dr. Eggman . . . "

"I'll see you all when I've taken over the world! Especially you, Knuckle Head!" Eggman yelled back down to Knuckles, who was already leaping up.

"Not if I can help it . . . Hiya!" He placed a punch near a corner of the stone, and for a split second, the power was loose. That split second was enough to send the shards of the Master Emerald flying in all directions.

". . . No matter. On with Plan A. I'll look into it once I get back to the base." Eggman muttered a few curses about his failed attempt, and continued his trek to Lord-knew-where.

"Ahhhhh! You IDIOT! You broke it!? What have you done to my Emerald?"

"I didn't break it, I temporarily separated it to prevent it from being stolen. If it's in pieces, I can restore it. And by the way, that isn't YOUR Emerald . . . ya moron." Knuckles responded, rubbing his fingers. "I split it into shards, all of equal length and volume by a process called—"

"I don't care! I'll be the one to get them back, anyway." Rouge prepared to head eastwards.

". . . .That's what you think, Bat Girl!" Knuckles muttered harsh words to himself and began running the opposite direction, launching himself off of the nearest cliff and into the sky, where the wind blew against him.

:::::::::

Night had fallen long ago, and Shadow had just finished watching a very interesting fight between a hedgehog and a mech. The stars were just beginning to appear, and only slightly aiding in the natural illumination of the dark streets. The blue hedgehog that must have been Sonic had shown some skills, but there was no way in hell he was going to admit that.

Shadow held back a laugh as he took out his green chaos emerald and walked up a fallen robot to the top of the peak, gripping the stone in his hand.

"What the--!" Sonic exclaimed as he looked up to see Shadow.

"It all begins with this." Shadow spun the emerald on his finger, he had played along long enough.

"Now I get it!" Sonic didn't appear happy. "The military must have mistaken me for the likes of you! Is that right? Well? Say something, you fake hedgehog!" Sonic ran at Shadow, who simply tossed the emerald to the other hand and watched.

"Chaos CONTROL!" The hedgehog stared at Sonic arrogantly as he zoomed right past him, 'teleporting' the short distance.

"Whoa . .. . he's fast. Wait, it isn't his speed . . . ! You're using that emerald to teleport!" Sonic thought and concluded aloud.

"My name . . . is Shadow the Hedgehog. I am the world's ultimate life-form. There is no time for games . . . farewell!"

With that, he used a final Chaos Control, and focused on his longest jump to his most distant destination: ARK.

::::::::::

Biolizard's eyes snapped open further, and he then narrowed them.

"Shadow the Hedgehog . . . I can feel you here. Oh, how I long to prove to you my strength . . . no. We can't meet just yet. But we will soon enough! Yes! In the meantime, I'll just sit around here and sip cola . . . "He pulled a drink from one of the few functioning refrigerators, not noticing how much bigger he was getting as a result of his on and off years in sleep.

"Yes . . . I lost my chance at being the strongest . . . and I lost my chance at Maria's love. I WILL have one of them, and since the latter is impossible, I can regain the former . . . Yes." He stood up with the can in his hand, downing it all in one gulp before checking out his life support system. It sat connected to wires all over the place, and the bright orb in the middle illuminated the dark room with its red glow.

"Strange, that thing seems smaller now . . . no matter."

Biolizard made his way towards the auxiliary transport system by the edge of the mechanized panel. There, he saw an escape pod. It was time for his first trip down to Earth. It wasn't a planned one, as the pods discovery was fairly recent, but the reptile wasn't in a picky mood.

"Well, planet Earth, I haven't seen you for a while, but now, I'm going to explore you fully for the first time." With that, he opened up one of the few remaining working pods, programmed its course, and locked himself in. Through the transparent glass, he could see the blue planet below him, completely filling up the screen

"Depart." He commanded, focusing his will to shrink himself back to a reasonable size. The pod uncoupled itself, and zoomed down to the planet below, leaving a blazing trail through space.

:::::::::

"Sonic the hedgehog! Freeze! Don't move!"

Sonic turned in the night to see a large squadron of GUN soldiers, cop cars, and robots, all with weapons pointed at him.

"Oh no, not again!? What country are you guys, with, anyway? Are you even a real military!?"

"Fire at will!" The small army began firing from behind cars, corners, streetlight, sewer pipes, and out in the open.

"Ahh!" Before he knew it, Sonic found himself barely avoiding the GUN fire and having to duck behind some poor sap's parked car, that was quickly being destroyed.

"You'll have to pay for that car, you know!" Sonic yelled out from behind the car that was quickly making its way to explosion status.

"The peoples' taxes take care of that! Now surrender yourself!"

Sonic spun into a ball, focused his power, and then sped away as the poor sap's parked car exploded and sent fiery trails high into the sky.

"We have you surrounded! Put your hands up!" Four officers had him immediately boxed in when he stopped spinning.

"Aw man! Fine! I'll go quietly!" he yelled in submission, slowly raising his gloved hands into the air.

"Subject is resisting arrest! Get him!" The officers knocked him to the ground and started kicking, as well as beating him to the ground with the butts of their rifles.

:::::::::::

Knuckles landed at the edge of a towering cliff. Below him, there was a canyon of bright rock that appeared to be crawling with GUN robots. The fading sunlight cast a desperate but sufficient glow on the place, but the shadows were still becoming longer.

"Why the heck are GUN robots patrolling that place? It's a pretty wild canyon, anyway, I can't imagine why anyone would—" Knuckles suddenly felt a feeling in his gut. Chaos energy.

"Whoa. I probably ought to check here for pieces of my emerald . . ." he dropped down into the canyon, ignoring the dizzying heights, knowing he could just begin a glide whenever he felt he was descending too fast.

Below him, a scurrying mini-tank from GUN caught his eye, and he prepared for a faster descent.

"Yaa!" He dropped down onto an unsuspecting robot before it could even react, and it shattered into hundreds of scattered pieces.

"That takes care of that . . . now to find some of those Master Emerald shards."

There was a loud impacting sound not too far away, and Knuckles almost jumped.

"What was that . . . eh, I'll worry about it later." He ran to where his feelings were strongest. His father, Locke, had exposed him to chaos energy when he was young, so he could almost sense an emerald or its shards whenever they were close by.

"I'm getting closer . . . "Knuckles ran, flipped twice, and ducked under more patrolling robots into a space between two sandy rocks. The dirt path below them led between two boulders and around a corner, where he could have sworn he heard something.

"The feeling of that Emerald's presence is getting stronger . . . I need to get it."

Knuckles ran in and around the corner, coming face to face with something he had never seen the likes of, just about his size.

The two stared each other down for a split second.

"What the hell are YOU doing here?" Knuckles asked in shock. It appeared to be a lizard, its eyes orange and searching, darting everywhere. It was holding a Master Emerald shard.

"Likewise, what are YOU doing here. And who are you?"

"I am THE Guardian Knuckles of the Master Emerald, and that's my shard. Give it here. Now answer my question."

"I am the Biolizard, the prototype of The Ultimate Life-Form, SON! And you don't want to mess with me."

"Give me a break. I've stepped on things that look tougher than you."

Biolizard blinked.

"You're an echidna, aren't you?"

"Yes. The shard, please"

Biolizard shrugged.

"Do I hear fifty dollars?"

The echidna shook his head rapidly. "Don't make me have to take it from you."

"Take it from me you say? I'm afraid you're mistaken. Taking something, a possession, from someone when the heart is attached to it is similar to digging your own grave. Separating someone from thier passion with petty intervention is just a recipe for trouble. You find yourself leaving behind trails of your own impudence . . . . . and retribution follows those trails and gives you what you deserve."

Knuckles blinked, he honestly didn't know what in the world was being said to him.

"I know all about having something, and then having it taken away." Knuckles continued.

Biolizard at Knuckles, but not _at _Knuckles. It was as if he wasn't even there, as if the lizard had someone else on his mind.

"Come on, then!" Biolizard stood fast, holding the gem behind his back. "Show me what you've got."

Knuckles jumped into one of his favorite fighting stances. "If you insist."


	5. We Meet Again

We Meet Again

**By Blue Dragon**

(Finally updated. In the **Author's Note, **thank you for pointing out the errors and flaws, I will be in the process of editing this story according to them in the very near future.)

_I've really done it this time . . . . _He thought.

Trying to fight off the cops, trying to resist arrest, and worst of all, laughing about it.

Sonic tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness, but to no avail. It seemed that he wouldn't move even a few feet until at least another half hour. He lifted his head but immediately regretted it, and the throbbing pain at the side of his head served as adequate proof.

Sonic, the hero, the immeasurably fast, the quick-witted, was hated and a mockery. Now nothing but a common criminal behind rusty bars in a cell . . . now just a scrub.

Indeed, he had really done it that time.

He opened his eyes, but regretted that as well. A single switch had been thrown, and though the exact source of the sound could usually be detected by Sonic, he was in no condition for such action. The light was blaring, and even with his eyes closed, Sonic wondered how he had managed to be in the vicinity of it without tearing up his frontal lobe.

After some serious thought and a mental reminder as to why he helped saved all of these ungrateful whelps in the past, he opened one eye slightly to scan his surroundings.

"Nothing . . . " He always loved the sound of his own voice. "Walls . . . tiles . . . bars . . . that God damn light . . . hmm." He noticed a mirror on the far side of the room, and used it to stare at himself. "And my handsome reflection to keep me company. Someone should be here to rescue me any minute."

Little did he know that he was his own biggest fan.

"Sonic the Hedgehog! The inquisition has begun!"

It was a voice that he couldn't quite place, and immediately after it was spoken, light blared on from places Sonic hadn't even known existed.

"Sonic the Hedgehog . . . " The voice repeated, and gradually its owner became visible. The man appeared to be a military officer of some sort, and he was stepping downwards from the height of a set of stairs towards Sonic.

"What do you keep saying my name for? I'm here, now what do you want!?" He attempted to lurch himself up, but that throbbing pain in his head told him otherwise.

"You have been accused of theft on a grand scale, assault of an officer, resisting arrest, and destruction of public property."

"What about that car you guys destroyed!?"

"Talk!"

"I'm not saying anything until I get my lawyer in here." Sonic sneered indignantly as he sat further back against wall.

"You aren't in custody, you're in captivity! No one is going to defend your rights right now, boy, you're a prisoner of GUN! Now answer the question!"

"Which was?"

"What was the motive behind your thefts?" The general was becoming more than a little annoyed.

"Does my hair look okay?" Even as a prisoner, he still kept his infamous, smart-alecky attitude.

"Lay off him, general, we have a real smartass on our hands. He'll come clean eventually, though." This was a new voice from another officer who had gone unnoticed by Sonic up to that point.

"We'll be back with more questions, you just think about your answers."

"Well, goodbye to you, too." Sonic muttered after him. Of course, he felt that there wasn't going to be a next time, because Tails was probably on his way as he spoke.

The men left, and Sonic was left in the dim light.

"Tails has never let me down . . . he'll be here, I know it." Sonic struggled a bit against the pain and stood up, he was recovering quickly. "In the meantime, I've gotta figure out a way to bust out of here! No one ever got anything done sleepin' in a jail cell!" He stood up faster and stretched out, after which he began his first attempts at escape.

A nearby camera followed his ever move, and relayed the information to another device.

In the nearby room, his moves were played out.

"Do you think he knows we're watchin' him?" A guard asked. He was watching the hedgehog's efforts from the other room through a security camera. His accomplice was busy on the other monitor, sending in data to G. H. Q.

"Yeah, probably. He won't quit though, it ain't his style."

::::::::::

Shadow paced around thoughtfully while Robotnik typed in a few more missed keys. They had both met up at the control room of ARK, and they had both jointly developed a plan of action, that of course involved acquisition of chaos emeralds.

The room was continually flashing with multicolored lights from the main control panel. It was the kind of illumination of a large dark area that almost seemed to reach only to a certain point, the type of illumination that let you know how extensive the darkness was.

"The Eclipse Cannon is capable of firing a beam powerful enough to penetrate a planet, you see. Unfortunately, it requires the chaos emeralds to operate." Shadow explained.

"I suppose that's because only those emeralds could produce the energy required for something that powerful?" Eggman confirmed while pacing around with a contemplative glare. His expression was only visible every once in a while, due to the flashing on and off of the control panel.

"Yes, exactly. However, I don't believe that we should have any problems acquiring them . . . " He muttered under his breath. "I shall fulfill my promise to Maria . . . . "

"Shadow?"

"Yes!?" He was caught off guard.

" . . . You tell me that you're The Ultimate Life-Form, but from my records, you actually appear to be an archetype. Does that mean that there is a prototype floating around somewhere?"

Shadow thought to himself, carefully, and in a flurry, all of the long forgotten memories flooded back into his brain. He was almost overloaded. The friend, the rival, the ally, the sarcastic lizard, everything that he had said and all that he had done filled his mind. And then he remembered ARK.

" . . . There originally was, but I think he was killed." Shadow elaborated. He didn't appear to be very excited about the realization.

"Good. Then I suppose we should have no opposition."

"Doctor, I believe I have a question for you, as well."

Robotnik had been heading towards the back of the room, but turned to face the call.

"Yes? What is it?"

Shadow hesitated. "Doctor, you and I both know that using that cannon will cause devastation and destruction to the lives of millions, and possibly billions. You seem to be fine with my plan, why is that?"

Robotnik hadn't been asked a question like that. He had been shunned, chased, tormented, accused, and nearly killed multiple times because of his ambitions, but no one had ever really asked him why had them, or at least no one in his own memory. They had simply assumed he was pure evil and proceeded to beat the hell out of him.

"I . . . had always wanted to be a scientist. I believed that I could make the world happy through science. However, events led me to give up that dream. It was a trivial one, I later realized. I would do much better using my genius for myself, rather than the ignorant masses who wouldn't appreciate it."

Shadow thought about Gerald, and realized exactly what was being said.

He turned around and headed back towards the main control panel, just as a warning signal flashed through his head. He instantly turned around, only to find a bat floating down from above.

"What the . . . " was all Shadow could utter before she landed on the ground and dusted herself off. She wasn't really hard to see, even in darkness, and the mild glow in her eyes gave the impression that she didn't mind the darkness at all. She tucked her wings in behind her and stood straight, as if preparing to make an important announcement.

"You boys sound like you could use some help . . . "

"How did you get here . . . ?" Shadow asked suspiciously.

She shook her head. "I have my sources."

"How did you know where to find us?" Eggman was getting suspicions of his own, and fingering the ray gun behind him.

"What can I say? I have ears all around the world."

" . . . " Neither Shadow nor Robotnik found satisfaction from her answers.

"My name is Rouge the Bat. I'm a world class jewel hunter, and I can help you, if you help me."

Robotnik thought for a moment. "I know an island where three emeralds are being kept . . . and it will probably be a three-person job to acquire them all. If you like jewels, then you ought to love these. We can test your skills there, Rouge the Bat." He let go of the gun behind him and allowed it to fall into its hidden holster.

She smiled, eyeing the computer.

Shadow spoke to Robotnik from the side of his mouth.

"Doctor, who the hell is this person, and what makes you decide to trust her?"

"Don't worry, Shadow. I have a plan."

::::::::::::

Knuckles charged for Biolizard and caught him hard in the jaw, after which he immediately recoiled and slid through the dust for another go.

"Ahh!" Biolizard sprawled back. "Surprising, you're definitely stronger than you look. Let's see what else you can do!" Biolizard began a false run to the side. Knuckles coiled up, and within an instant he had uncoiled and thrown a midair kick into the side of his chest, sending Biolizard back into the rock face, still holding the emerald shard.

"Yes, you're pretty strong indeed, Knuckles . . . "

Knuckles slid back a bit, trying to keep confidence. His foot was hurting a bit from kicking him, and his knuckles were definitely aching from punching him, it was like hitting a brick wall. Worse yet, he was still standing. The only person he knew that could withstand a punch like that was . . .

"Come at me again, knucklehead! Or are you on the defensive, now?"

Knuckles abandoned the idea of one powerful punch and kicked up a cloud of dust as he zoomed forward, forcing a flurry of punches.

The sun began to set, taking the afternoon glow with it. It was as if the sun itself was afraid to see the outcome of the brawl.

Biolizard took them all directly, but it seemed as if he had stepped into the punches to reduce force, something that Knuckles decided Sonic would have never thought to do.

"Take this!" Biolizard spun in even deeper and smashed into Knuckles with the back of his tail. It sent him back further than he thought, but Knuckles didn't seem to be harmed by it.

"Hmm. Now I _know_ that you're tougher than you look. But I still can't let you get this emerald shard."

"It's my duty to my people, to everything I stand for, to keep that Master Emerald where it belongs! Give it here, already! I won't let you have that shard!"

"You'll have to fight me for it!" Biolizard swung forward again with a left punch, and immediately went in for a right, that Knuckles was very used to blocking. Knowing this, the prototype faked the punch halfway and came in with a tail swipe instead. After spinning into the air, Biolizard pursued Knuckles, who had expected a pursuit. To counter, he simply splits-kicked his way down and smashed Biolizard into the rock face all over again.

By now, it seemed that Knuckles was winning, but Biolizard wasn't the one panting.

"Getting tired? I'm the true Ultimate Life-Form! I take a lickin' and keep on tickin'! I—"

"Stop! You're giving me a migraine, don't pull a 'Sonic' on me!"

Biolizard heard this and began to pace around, drawing tiny trails in the dust.

"Alright then, Guardian, another round. Let's see how you avoid punches . . . !" Biolizard ran back at him and began punching forward rapidly with a speed Knuckles didn't expect.

Knuckles huffed in to get all of the breath he could, and began to dodge as many blows as he could from the scaled menace.

When he saw an opening, the echidna went in with a hard roundhouse, just as his opponent slashed up a left splits-kick. The two feet met, and the result was a shockwave that shook both of their legs and sent them flying back in their respective directions.

Biolizard had no trouble landing on his feet. He examined the emerald shard, and began pacing again wile Knuckles recovered.

"You're a worthy fighter . . . and you don't give up . . . continuing this bout would be pointless." Biolizard spun the shard on a clawed finger, and then dropped it in front of him.

"Take it, Knuckles. It's yours."

Knuckles became very wary, Biolizard had it on the ground in front of him, but he appeared to have something ulterior planned. That smirk on his face made it look like he was about to pull a fast one. But then again, this might be the chance he was looking for to get back his shard.

Very carefully, Knuckles approached, and slowly reached down for the shard, his eyes on Biolizard the whole time.

The lizard made a sudden movement, however it was towards the back wall.

"We shall meet again, Knuckles the Echidna . . . unless you get killed."

"Don't you worry about that! I hope you can get stronger than that, because I'll be much tougher within a week!!!" Knuckles wouldn't be happy if he thought that Biolizard left thinking he was the superior one, because he truly did not believe that that was the truth. He held the Master Emerald shard close to his body.

"And the next time we meet, 'Mr. Ultimate', I'll be sure to be the one to beat YOU! So be ready!" Knuckles continued while shaking the sharp end of the emerald shard at the 'fleeing' opponent.

Biolizard launched of into the sky and seemed to come close to flight. "That which doesn't kill me postpones the inevitable." He said simply as he rubbed his wounds and disappeared over a hilltop.

After leaving Knuckles' sight, he continued his plunge downwards towards the split in the rocks where he had kept his escape pod.

"Hmm." He landed without a sound in front of it, the screen was still partially open. Of course, it was only built for two trips: escape and return. The result of that particular flaw in design was that the first trip had left it in bad condition, but not so bad that he couldn't return to ARK with it.

"Great, just great. At this rate, I won't be able to use this thing for much longer . . . I need to get back to ARK and build something better. Then . . . I can promise myself that I'll return to Earth. That I'll find my own true purpose." He pulled the battered exterior until the screen opened completely, and jumped in. He pushed the button to establish his pre-programmed destination, and the transport began to rumble as it headed off into the sky.

Gradually, the change in air pressure became more noticeable, the ground became smaller, and the orange sky became completely black.

The transport shook and grew hotter than usual as it took the punishment from the atmosphere, it would definitely be incapable of another trip. The surface below began to fill the entire view and the supreme serenity of space washed in as the capsule headed closer to ARK.

For a while, Biolizard listened to the sound of the dying thrusters until there was a clank and a hiss as the inside was pressurized, a coupling was accomplished, and a light flashed. This indicated that he could board ARK.

"Soon enough, I'll be stronger than Shadow ever was . . . and perhaps stronger than he will ever be." He stood and left the now useless pod, re-entering the familiar cool atmosphere of ARK.

:::::::::::::

Shadow had left the control room and had been taking walks around ARK to reacquaint himself, but to no avail. The entire section of ARK he was exploring was completely unfamiliar, it was a section he had never been stationed in.

In the darkness, he heard a hissing and a clicking sound. It was a seemed very alien, a strange sound to him. He listened to the endings of that sound, and with it he could have sworn to feel some sort of presence that a portion of his mind hadn't forgotten. The result was that the strangeness wasn't full, it was almost a familiar strangeness, a recognition of the unusual feeling that filled him.

"This . . . . is weird." Shadow then listened to the sounds produced by footsteps, but they were stealthy steps. The type of steps that didn't even produce echoes.

"This place of pain actually looks newer than when I found it. It appears as if now it is nothing more than a museum . . . with ghosts of the past haunting me. Where am I? It doesn't feel like ARK." Shadow began a walk towards the end of the hallway where the footsteps were coming from.

He began sliding down the pathway with his hover shoes, and glided to a stop around the end.

He looked down the dark corridor, and then peered down the other side.

For a while, he didn't really see anything or anybody, but then, it finally happened.

Their eyes locked.

Fifty years of hostility that had only been active for two, and feelings of questioned friendship clashed, as two minds of virtually two different worlds began a battle.

The 'rivals', the 'friends', saw each other.

Biolizard took in every detail of Shadow, every unchanged detail, and Shadow did the same to Biolizard.

Their looks recognized each other as almost equals, rivals, and friends, all at the same time, and all in one second.

"So . . . we meet again." Was all Biolizard muttered before darting down another corridor, with Shadow in hot pursuit.


	6. The Proposition

The Proposition

**By Blue Dragon**

(In an **Author's Note**, this is short considering the wait, but I wanted to let all know that past this, updates will be slower for an undetermined amount of time. I'm still editing this story, and others, based on all of the suggestions from reviews. Thank you for all of the feedback, I hope to continue as soon as possible. I'm also considering lengthening this chapter, so keep your eyes peeled.)

Robotnik paced around in his mech. The walking arsenal seemed a bit jumpy after the beam, but it was good enough for the time. He stared at the anxious Rouge once again.

"Where in world is Shadow?"

Rouge shrugged her shoulders. "Who needs that ball of fuzz, anyway? We can get everything by ourselves, right?"

Robotnik shook his head vehemently.

"Don't be a fool!" The foliage was crunched under the stomp. The moisture from the closely gathered trees of the jungle didn't help, either.

"Why did Prison Island have to be around a jungle? This is bad for my mech . . . and I didn't even bring any repellent . . . "Robotnik grumbled to no one in particular.

"And let's face it, you've got a lot of body to cover."

The doctor tossed a lens-covered glare in the direction of Rouge. "Why don't you just be quiet before I blow a hole through you? Stop jabbering if you can't find anything helpful to say."

Rouge ignored him and turned around to face the expanse beyond. "Maybe we should just go on with the plan without him."

". . . Shadow has been pretty reliable, but I'm not sure. Carry on with the plans, I suppose. Rouge, get that emerald."

She sighed.

"Is that all I'm good for to you?"

"What?"

"Getting emeralds. There's more to me than being a jewel thief."

"I'm not in the mood for a life story!"

". . . "

"Do you hear me, bat girl!? We have a time limit, get moving! If we don't get those emeralds now, then it's game over, do you understand?"

Rouge sighed again, and wished she would actually get a real opportunity, after which she shook the thought out of her head. Her problems could wait, it was the mission first.

"Got it!" She flew off into the distance.

Robotnik was glad to get rid of her, and used the opportunity to head off towards the main exterior of the facility, and out of that accursed jungle.

:::::::::::::

A few jets zoomed in and out of the perimeter of Prison Island.

"Rapier, I'm getting . . . . some jet on radar a few miles east of here. I think that he's trying to bust into here through air. Do you copy?"

The fuzzy radio chatter was heard only by the ears of the other pilot, who was also circling around the blue sky.

". . . Omega, are you seeing this, we got a bogey. It ain't listening to our warnings, I think it's a hostile."

"What the . . . Omega! Omega! This is Omega 1, we've got a bandit!"

"Calm down. We're just going to shoot him down."

The sky seemed unusually clear, and in the distance, a strange jet approached.

"What the . . . Rapier 8 here, we've got the Tornado!"

"Damn . . . that's Miles 'Tails' Prower in there! We'll never win! Bug out!"

"Screw that, I ain't getting' shot down by some toddler! Rapier 8, engage!" The jet spun in its course and barrel rolled at an alarming speed towards the Tornado, which was indeed piloted by Tails.

The offending jet fired a few missiles, only to have them evaded by the Tornado.

"The kid's a genius . . . Rapier, he's got systems to throw off the tracking of our missiles. We have no offense."

". . . Let's bug out. Warn the base."

The Tornado was much faster than the SU-37's, however, and flew right past them.

"Amy, can you hear me?" Tails spoke into his radio. He knew Amy could hear him, but she wouldn't tell him what she was using or where she was.

"Loud and clear!" She seemed cheerful as ever, which was another miracle considering the situation.

"Prison Island is coming up, they're still trying to fight me off. I'm going to try to land on the outside of perimeter." Tails worked his shoes down onto the pedals built specifically for his height. He brushed the strands of his fur from the keys, and continued typing on them.

"TND-1D5s . . . . " he muttered as he maneuvered low so the new planes wouldn't pick him up. The TNDs were the only models of plane that could find him.

He aimed for what appeared to be a primitive runway in the distance.

"Great!" After a few procedures, the Tornado began to convert to its mech form and it approached the ends of the pavement.

"Wait . . . Is that Eggman!?" He began to speed up. He didn't think he would find the scientist anywhere near where Sonic was being held.

"Amy!?" He also saw Amy off in the distance. He began moving so quickly, that his entire craft lost stability and began to go down.

"Sonic!?" He laughed at himself. He couldn't help but say his name when he was in trouble. But for once, he needed to save him. He wouldn't always be the one to owe his life to his hero; for once, he would save him.

"This time . . . I'm going to be the hero . . . "He clutched his controls as the machine plunged towards the water, and prepared to launch again towards his destination.

::::::::::

It seemed quiet inside of ARK. It was, after all, floating in the middle of space; one of the ultimate expanses of serenity. The environment itself seemed to recoil at so many sounds in such a short amount of time, after experiencing near silence for fifty years.

Biolizard leapt through a dark passageway. In the chase, he had the upper hand. He was well accustomed to the environment, and knew the place very well. Shadow had a slight sense of hesitation before jumping after his quarry, and those fractions of seconds gave Biolizard precisely what he needed.

"Bio, wait!" Shadow called after him, but of course it seemed strange to him. After thinking he was gone for fifty years, it seemed very strange indeed to call out his name as if the two had just seen each other.

Biolizard's clawed feet scraped across another hall as he slid, and then began to run down that as well. Shadow slid in just in time to see him disappear up a duct.

In a quick bound, Shadow followed Biolizard up the duct as well, and then listened to the near silent sounds he made as he scurried around different pathways.

"Why do you want to get rid of me so badly . . . . "Shadow whispered, knowing that his old friend could easily pick up his voice.

"It isn't ready yet . . . Shadow, I'm not ready to fight you."

"Who said I wanted to fight . . . ? Aren't we old friends . . . ?"

Biolizard was prepared to respond, and then he closed his mouth quickly. "I doubt you're coming after me because you think that we can catch up. I bet it's probably some subconscious hope that you have."

"What are you talking about?" Shadow crawled a bit more. The place was poorly lit, and the only light would come from various slits. Shadow stood when he realized that the only ceiling was fairly high. He saw a flash of his old friend disappear around a corner.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Shadow the Hedgehog. You probably thought I was dead. And now here I am alive."

". . . I don't understand. What do you mean . . . . "Shadow was bordering anger.

"You know what I mean, hedgehog! I mean that if you see me alive, you have some hope that Maria is alive as well. You don't want to see me at all, do you!? That's why you don't need to."

". . . "

". . . "

"That . . . that isn't—"

"Shadow, you know it as well as I do. If you deny it, your lie will be loud. But not because it is made to me, but because you make it to YOURSELF!" Biolizard launched forward at Shadow and grabbed him by the neck.

"Remember me!? OLD FRIEND!" Shadow struggled under his grip. He could see him in the light. It gave him a full realization of how dangerous Biolizard looked when he was angry. His eyes seemed to flash, and his pupils constricted in the light and in surprise. The teeth that lined his mouth seemed even more dangerous, and the claws didn't help at all. Biolizard had not only a wild character, but a wild appearance. An excellent combination of sentience and fierceness.

That of course didn't mean that Shadow would go down easily.

"Hiya!" Shadow launched a flurry of kicks that caught Biolizard in the gut and sent him into the ceiling, but he simply slashed down.

"Have you gotten rusty, friend!? Things must have been easy for you in the warmth of Maria's love!" Biolizard pulled a triple roundhouse and sent Shadow into the corner of the vent, and he didn't stop there.

"Biolizard, you're crazy! Nuts! Do you hear me!?" Shadow flipped forward and blasted his opponent in the face with the thrusters of his shoe, and then came in with a double roundhouse. Biolizard dodged the second one and grabbed Shadow by the arm. After a good wrestling, he launched two clawed kicks onto either side of Shadow's face, and sent him flying a different direction. This wasn't before Shadow grabbed the opponent by the tail and tossed him into his same direction, giving him the momentum to stop.

"I'm not nuts, Shadow! When she died, she held you! She spoke to you! She gave her life to save you. While what happened to me? I'll tell you what. I got the living hell beaten out of me by everybody and their freakin' grandma!" He finished the statement by flipping forward and landing in a double axe to Shadow's chest. The two began to pant, and Biolizard felt tired for the first time in a long time.

"Bio . . I thought we were—"

"What? Friends? Maybe we were. But now, when I see you, I just think of how much more you had than me. You know, when they built me, I studied myself. I actually researched the genetics of my own creation. Shadow, they built me with the sole purpose of making you. The pooled all of the crappy elements of the genes into one section, and the powerful dominant ones to the other. Then, of course, they gave me the DNA of what? A useless lizard that they found running around in the biology center!"

Shadow paused.

"I know what you're thinking, Shadow. You're right. That's why they call me The Biolizard. To make a long-ass story short, I got all of the recessive genes, the crap, the trash! You got all of the dominant ones."

". . . Why didn't you tell me this before?" Shadow thought he was recovering, but as he felt the cold metal behind him, he only felt more tired. The lights in the distance illuminated Biolizard grimly. He was staring away from Shadow, who later noticed that he had drawn three lines of blood on the face of the reptile.

"Why didn't I tell you? I'll tell you why. Because I didn't want to remember it. I wanted to push it out of my brain, I didn't want to make you feel responsible for something that wasn't your fault. But then . . . " Biolizard began bending a metal bar with ferocious anger. "But then, you took Maria! You got more from her in a day than I did in freakin' weeks! She didn't give a damn about me!"

". . . "

"You just stay quiet. You drove me to the edge. Imagine this: You took away all of the dominant cells, I didn't even have a genetic makeup; they had to use that damn lizard. Fortunately, I'm still a handsome devil."

Shadow inwardly rolled his eyes, and coughed a little as his panting rival continued.

"Basically, Shadow, you stole my everything, my genes suck. You robbed me of all I had before I was even born, while you were still just a bunch of blueprints, you took everything I had! Do you know what its like to know you're garbage from the day you were born?" Biolizard's muscles rippled over his body.

"Well no more, archetype. No more. If Maria can't love me, I will fulfill another dream. I will prove myself more powerful than you. I will prove myself stronger! That is my proposition!"

"Bio . . . we can just be friends! Let's forget all of this, you're one of the only friends I've ever had . . . . "

Biolizard simply pointed to the spot behind Shadow. Shadow turned, only to see metal, and when he turned back, Biolizard was nowhere in sight.

"Damn . . . "He was still as tricky as ever.


End file.
